When Foreign Law Applies to the Agreement…Now What?

The expansion of technology and globalization has brought many challenges for individuals and companies entering into agreements, as well as the New York courts and judges who are ultimately interpreting those agreements. One of the challenges for contracting parties is agreeing what law governs the agreement. Sometimes, parties agree to have the law of a foreign country govern their agreement. In those cases, New York courts are tasked with the challenge of interpreting laws of countries all across the globe—laws that are completely “foreign” to New York judges and attorneys.

This article outlines how New York federal and state judges handle cases where foreign laws have been selected to govern an agreement, and what should be considered before agreeing to such a choice of law provision.